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Norwegian FISH

July 19th, 2010, 23:32

The most tasty fish-meal I have EVER eaten.

"Fish-symphony" from the fish-restaurant at BUD.

4 different fishes in each corner of the plate. Three was well known. "Breiflabb, Kveite and Piggvar". But in the last corner. Down at the left on the image was a fish I have never heard about before. The local name was "Sko-læst".

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I belive the english 'Rattail' is the most suitable name for this creature.

Now, a little language education, if you don't mind:

The norwegian name 'Skolæst' comes from a very important tool of a shoemaker.
Sko = shoe
Læst = shoe template
And my belife is that the name of the fish comes from its head/front section looks very much like a toe section of a shoe template.
A random picture of a template used to form the toe section of a handmade shoe:

A more common 'skolæst' from a shoemaker shop:
(Don't look much like a fish, I know, but it's the head of the fish and toe section of a shoe template that is similar)

Shoe template used for high heeled womens shoes:

Well, now that I've turned this fishfood thread into a shoe tamplate one..., I just as quick will give the thread back to you again

EDIT: Isn't it great, this CV forum? A member eats fish in a restaurant at Bud, and suddenly you know all there is to know about shoe templates.... (hahaha)

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This 'Skolæst' explanation is absolutely fascinating as my father had a shoe repair shop and as a child I loved to watch the men in the workshop. The word used for these things on which the shoe was mounted for working on, was actually last ! And the adjustable lasts in the workshop, being of shiny metal, looked more like that fish head!

Now if we had a smells feature I would be getting the, for me, childhood-nostalgia smell of leather, as well as the the aroma of Martin’s delicious looking meal!

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That is correct!!!! The Salmon comes from Norway, for many of the brands, but processed in Finland, Denmark etc. WHY????
There is even smoked salmon from New Zealand and Tasmania, where salmon is farmed, using Norwegian technology. (And smolt, originally)

The shelves used to be full of Norwegian products, but no more. Isn't Norwegian producers able or willing to compete on price??
Fresh Norwegian Salmon is among the cheapest fish in the fresh fish counter, but Coldstorage hasn't had any Norwegian smoked salmon for quite a while. I don't know about other supermarket chains.

Last edited by ombugge; January 12th, 2011, 09:11.
Reason: Correction from salon to salmon

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Now that you've mentioned salmon....as we are dethawing from the ice, etc...

My sense memory just kicked in.....I love salmon, but for some reason, I just instantly thought of this salmon soup I had in, of all places, the Helsinki airport, both coming and going to Russia in 1990!
(now THAT is some sense memory!!!)

It was a clear broth, with chunks of salmon...Oh, my GAWD it was good. (Obviously...to remember it so well!)
I can't describe it any further, really....it was just warm and light and delicious...........

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Back in the early 1990s I was involved in concept planning a project to import whole frozen salmon and other seafood from Norway and to process it in this region (Johor or Batam) for sale within the ASEAN region, and beyond.

This was to include smoking, as well as marinating (Gravlax) etc. We intended to bring in from Norway an expert in the art of smoking fish, at least initially.
Unfortunately the project never got going due to lack of funds, as usual.

Maybe time to revive the idea, to get Norwegian products back on the supermarket shelves in Asia? Free idea for anybody with initiative and money.

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There are a large variety of things in the ocean and fjords and along the beaches that has not been utilized much in Norway. One such thing is the humble squid (Akkar in Norwegian)
Some years the fjords are full of squids, other years there are few, if any. There are little targeted catching of squids, but sometime it is hard to avoid getting them when aiming for other species.
Yesterday our son caught a very big squid on a normal hook while fishing from shore:
With nothing to compare with it is hard to judge the length, but the body was over 40 cm from tip to the head. Add to that tentacles of 20-25 cm.

Being expertly stuffed with minced meat and steamed to perfection by my wife, it become a very good sunday lunch today:

Norwegians are starting to eat squid, at least as long as it is called Calamaris, not Akkar.
Before it was regarded as bait for longlines only. Nobody in their right mind would eat bait.

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